The International Library of Bioethics

This book provides an in-depth ethical analysis of the right to health care by contrasting privatized with socialized approaches. It pays special attention to how a socialized approach can be implemented in the context of limited resources and offers a way of integrating allocation decisions at the policy level with institutional and hands-on decision-making. It also discusses how the right to health care translates into duties on part of the members of society. In an Appendix, it suggests how, in time of need, the TRIPS Agreement allows countries to side-step patent regulations that would otherwise raise the cost of patented healthcare products beyond what a particular society is able to afford. The book is of interest not only to scholars but also to healthcare policy makers, administrators and healthcare professionals, as well as to patients themselves.